Journal

And now for Part 2 in our three part series. Here we want to focus on one of the many incredible sites Daisy of Daisy Saulls Photography captured on the day of our styled shoot at Mount Airy Plantation. As we took advantage of all the beautiful views and buildings on the property, we headed from the mansion to the stables. With an original chandelier taken from the entrance hall of the house, and a beautifully worn oriental rug, the stables didn't need much to really come alive for our shoot.

Meggie and I brought in some of our vintage rental furniture, the beautiful Herend China, Waterford crystal, and handmade antique silver to set the table. We hung some vintage gilded frames on the wall and voila! The stage was set for a spectacular wedding celebration!

Again, our flower inspiration came from what was currently in the gardens at Mount Airy, as well as the stationary artwork from Inslee of Inslee By Design. The garland on the table is an exact replica of her botanical drawings! (See our previous post for a picture of the stationary, with calligraphy by White House calligrapher, Pat Blair.) The cake was designed by Carolyn Taylor of Taylor Made Cakes, and we didn't have to add much to tie it into the flowers used throughout the space.

Daisy really captured some special moments between our real-life husband and wife team, Laura and Luke of LLB Design, LLC, showcasing Laura's beautiful hair and makeup, done by Michelle Viscal of Emeralds Salon. Our models' wardrobe was planned and executed by Daisy...great job on capturing that old world feel from early episodes of Downton Abbey!

A big thanks to all who helped make this shoot possible, especially the owners of Mount Airy Plantation. Your home is a beautiful piece of history, and thanks to you, many will now have it be a lasting memory of their wedding day.

The collaboration between us girls at Catherine G. Damewood and Daisy Saulls Photography came about one afternoon as we chatted over coffee. What started as a simple idea, quickly turned into an unforgettable experience for all involved. The concept was to stage a wedding inspired by the duck hunting episode in Downton Abbey's Season 3. We were inspired by the beautiful clothing worn, and noticed that even with an air of masculinity, Mary looks incredibly feminine and chic. After weeks of planning, the day had finally arrived where a team of us traveled to Warsaw, Virginia to one of the Nation's oldest and most spectacular places--Mount Airy Plantation.

Although the home has been the site of many family weddings in the past, Mount Airy is now opening its doors up to others as a wedding venue. The land that this 1750s home was built on has been in the same family since the 1600s! With so much beauty and history to offer, we knew we wanted to capture as much of the vast surroundings as possible. With the help of the owners, we decided to style several places around the property for Daisy to shoot. Locations included the library, stables, a field out in front of the home, and even near by wetlands where the owners host several duck shoots every year.

With such a beautiful setting, the styling was easy. Meggie and I brought several pieces of period furniture, china, silver and even a ladder to help set the stage. The wardrobe was planned by Daisy and worn by our two incredible models...Laura and Luke, owners of LLB Design, LLC, took time away from the office to play newlyweds for a day. Styling for Laura's hair and makeup was provided by Michelle Viscal of Emeralds Salon.

Our flower inspiration was drawn from two things--the stationary artwork graciously provided by my friend Inslee atInslee By Design, and what was currently blooming and available to cut from the gorgeous gardens at Mt. Airy. The pink roses and peonies came straight out of the garden the morning of our shoot...lovely!

The calligraphy on the invitations was artfully done by White House calligrapher, Pat Blair. Another contributor was Carolyn Taylor of Taylor Made Cakes, who's beautiful cake we embellished with some flora! A big thanks to all who helped us make this styled shoot possible. Everything turned out beautifully, and would not have done so without the help of many.

This Dutch Baroque painting by Jan Davidsz. de Heem is stunning! It serves as such an inspiration as we move into Fall...dark and moody just in time for Halloween . We love playing with these rich textures and colors ourselves.

Fall in love, as we have with this amazing inspirational photoshoot. We had the pleasure to collaborate with Daisy Sualls Photography on a beautiful shoot. Inspired by Downton Abbey’s Duck Hunting Episode during season three, we worked to create our own spin on site at Mt. Airy Plantation in Warsaw, VA. We can't wait to share more images this week of this wonderful day.

Over the past month we have participated as vendors in our first fall fairs. The first was the Lovettsville Oktoberfest and the second was the Aldie Harvest Festival. For both days we set up our tent in similar fashion. We used an old Loudoun County chalkboard with flower garland as our backdrop and then had a farm table and chair from our vintage rental collection set up for display. Since a requirement for both fairs was to sell in order to participate, we came prepared with baskets full of flower crowns. They weren't made of real flowers, as we would normally do, but they were made of the silk flower variety. We did however show off our floral designs with a real flowers used in the garland, a table arrangement and some sweet baby's-breath crowns Catherine made as a demonstration.

As mentioned in a previous post I love to see what Catherine comes up with in the studio for special deliveries. It truly is a time for creativity and experimentation. This beauty below I believe needs a whole blog post to itself. It is so stunning, pictures do not do it justice. It definitely harkens from another time and effortless evokes a crisp, bright, fall day in Virginia.

One of my favorite things in the studio is to see catherine work on special floral deliveries. They are always so one of a kind, spontaneous, and creative. She is a true artist and an inspiration! Here are some of the highlights of my favorites special delivery arrangements from the past few months. Now if only I could slow down and focus the camera to capture these beauties...

What a wonderful week in the studio prepping for this beautiful wedding! The bride had such wonderful vision! What can be better than Great Meadows in the Fall with lush, blue hydrangea and vintage touches everywhere! We can not wait to see the professional photos from Daisy Saulls Photography and Russell Brammer Photography.

This summer we were asked to help stage a dinner hosted by Potomac Point Winery in Stafford, Virginia. The event was Founding Fathers Gone Wild. The concept was to pair a wild game menu with a patriotic theme to honor our founding fathers on Father's Day weekend. We used a WWI era American flag that belonged to our great-grandfather as a backdrop for found objects what reflected the night's theme...some deer antlers, a set of cow horns, lots of pheasant feathers all sat on top of some of our vintage rental furniture along with old books and some Revolutionary War soldier prints. The setting was perfectly rustic in the wine cellar, so we kept the table flowers simple...garland made of magnolia leaves and feathers placed on top of burlap was used as the table runner, with pops of color in julep cup arrangements. This event was picked up by a Washington area wedding blog, United With Love. Check out the link below!

Yet again we are back after a long break. It has been a very busy season for us with many projects under way. I would like to take a pause during our whirlwind to share some photos from a wedding we worked on over the summer. We were very lucky to work with an amazing bride and her mother. The vision that they had for the wedding day was impacable. Here are some sneak peeks into the amazing ceremony and reception. After over a year of collecting unique glassware, the bride amassed a beautiful collection of containers that added elegance and whimsy to this memorable day. This wedding I think too, bridges the seasons. Not only was it a fabulous choice for a summer wedding but it can seemlessly be used in any season. We can't wait to see the professional pics of this beautiful wedding when they are ready!

A little TBT blog post. We have been so busy this spring with many fun projects. And here is one from last month where we had the pleasure of providing some beautiful flowers. This special event was for the Orange County Hunt and the party was held at a private farm near The Plains, Virginia. Not only did we provide the table centerpieces, but also a large statement piece for a coffee table. We loved working with the cheery, spring color palette while still incorporating the hunt's colors of red and white.

As mentioned in my earlier post, Edible Flowers (Part 1) , Catherine's birthday was approaching and I wanted to create a flower themed present. While rummaging through a local thrift store I found the most adorable wooden recipe box that started my creative wheels spinning. All things that bloom are a huge inspiration to me right now. Not only because of our new floral business, but also because spring is finally here. I took the box with its great lines home, and painted it. Then the project was put on hold. I did not end up gifting it to Catherine for her birthday, but decided that it would make a wonderful Mother's Day present. Over the past couple of weeks, I have started the project back up. Additionally, I sourced some organic edible flower seeds, looked up some recipes that call for flowers and turned this whole idea into an edible flower themed gift!

As I said before, the use of flowers in food create a huge impact, not only with their added visual beauty and enticing aromas, in a salad for instance, but also with their variety of flavors ranging from spicy to sweet. That being said it is crucial to know which ones are safe to eat. When selecting flowers for consumption it is important to make sure they are non-toxic and not poisonous.

We have eagerly been waiting for spring to arrive here in Virginia and it looks like it finally has come. Not only for the much appreciated warmer weather to turn our grey landscape green, but so that we can put together images to showcase some of the vintage and antique pieces we are offering as rentals. We look forward to having our inventory up online soon. This will be a great resource, not only for event planners looking to stage the perfect party, but also photographers looking for hard to find, unique props to stylize shoots.

Just like what we do for our clients, I try to weave a story and create an experience with everything I do. This holds true for even the simple act of gift-giving; with a little thought and imagination, a small gift can be made memorable for years to come!

Catherine's birthday gift this year had many layers. It all started with a beautiful card that I had in my stationary stockpile. It was always meant for Catherine, my little Pisces sister, but it was only a matter of finding the right time to give it to her. With this special card in hand a story with many intricately woven themes began to be told.

The card was aqua blue with a brunette mermaid on it. The aqua on the card reminded me of birthdays past. While growing up, our mother always avoided using gift bags or wrapping paper, especially for our birthdays. Instead we would be presented with a stack of beautiful, hand-painted Italian paper boxes tied with ribbon. While looking through my wrapping paper I found a gift bag that was reminiscent of these same Italian paper boxes. And even better, they were an aqua blue to match the card!

The themes continued to be layer on. With water and Italy on my mind, I had the perfect gifts to fill my bag--a LifeFactory glass water bottle, and two Italian inlaid picture frames (just some of my recent favorite finds!). I know it seems a bit backwards to have the wrapping and card first, before finding the present, but it seemed to work out. Knowing Catherine’s experiences, she was sure to find the packaging to be just as meaningful as what was inside.

Whether it is with our work, or in our personal lives, we thread together an experience that goes beyond the surface. What’s your inspiration?

Sidebar

We are a boutique floral & event staging design studio located in Loudoun County, Virginia. We bring style, elegance, and whimsy to our event designs. Whether it is a small dinner party or a grand wedding we work with our clients to find out their vision and set the stage for an unforgettable experience. We specialize in making your special occasion one to remember.

We're currently booking for 2015, so please inquire early to reserve your date.